Answers in Genesis Explains Biblical Young Earth Ideas

From the News to Note Section of the website:

5. USA Today: “We Believe in Evolution—and God”

Two Christian evolutionists send a broadside our way with a USA Today opinion piece this week. But do they bring up anything new?

The authors of the piece are Eastern Nazarene College professor Karl Giberson (whom we wrote about last November) and Point Loma Nazarene University professor Darrel Falk. Both are co-presidents of the new BioLogos Foundation established by Christian evolutionist Francis Collins (see the May 16 edition of News to Note).

The two begin with an unsurprising assertion: “We find no contradiction between the scientific understanding of the world, and the belief that God created that world. And that includes Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.” They add that molecules-to-man evolution “unifies the entire science of biology,” and that “evolution is as well-established within biology as heliocentricity is established within astronomy.” Then they bring out their biggest guns:

The “science” undergirding this “young earth creationism” comes from a narrow, literalistic and relatively recent interpretation of Genesis, the first book in the Bible. This “science” is on display in the Creation Museum in Kentucky, where friendly dinosaurs—one with a saddle!—cavort with humans in the Garden of Eden. . . . Science faculty at schools such as Bryan College in Tennessee and Liberty University in Virginia work on “models” to shoehorn the 15 billion year history of the universe into the past 10,000 years.

And hence the misinformation begins, which we will answer in turn. Here, we wonder if Giberson and Falk dismiss plain readings of other Bible passages as “ narrow” and “literalistic” even if those passages, like Genesis 1 show the hallmarks of being plainly worded historical accounts. And the early church fathers’ supposed doubt concerning a literal Genesis has also been dramatically exaggerated (see The Early Church on Creation). Also, as we have explained before, the saddled dinosaur in the Creation Museum is not an exhibit, but rather a fun photo opportunity for young children; it is in the basement, far from the Garden of Eden display. And the authors merely beg the question when they write that our friends at Bryan College, Liberty University, and elsewhere must “shoehorn” old-earth ideas into a young-earth framework.

Challenging accepted ideas is how America churns out Nobel Prize-winning science and patents that will drive tomorrow’s technology. But challenging authority can also undermine this country’s leadership in science, when citizens reject it. . . . [We aim] to counter the voices coming from places such as the website Answers in Genesis, which touts creation scientists, and the Discovery Institute, a think tank in Seattle, that calls on Christians to essentially choose between science and faith.

First of all, the professors have conflated operational science with origins science—a common problem we point out. Also we have made clear many times, we certainly do not reject science; we just do not believe that everything labeled “science” or that everything believed by scientists actually is good, objective science. Likewise, we regularly emphasize that the supposed dichotomy between religion (or faith) and science is false. The issue is not that we fight the encroachment of science; rather, we believe that one’s starting point is an inherently religious belief that determines how one interprets the results of the scientific method.

Darwin proposed the theory of evolution in 1859 in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. This controversial text presented evidence that present-day life forms have descended from common ancestors via natural selection. Organisms better adapted to their environments had more offspring, and these fitness adaptations accumulated across the millennia. And this is how new species arose.

Natural selection is a readily observed, experimentally verified scientific fact that requires no historical speculation, and as such, our Creation Museum has an exhibit that explains it. We agree that natural selection can lead to new species within a kind as it reduces the genetic information in a population, resulting in sexual incompatibility where there previously was none. But Darwin and those who follow him extrapolate backward from these observations all the way to a single ancestor of all life. That assertion can never be proved right or wrong from fossils or any other present-day scientific study.

We are trained scientists who believe in God, but we also believe that science provides reliable information about nature. We don’t view evolution as sinister and atheistic. We think it is simply God’s way of creating. . . . Evolution is not a chaotic and wasteful process, as the critics charge.

We agree that the scientific method can show certain hypotheses to be more reliable than others through the process of attempted falsification. However, “science” does not provide anything—saying as much is to commit the fallacy of reification. We also would ask if the authors believe in the true, bodily resurrection of Jesus, given that such is as “scientifically” unverifiable as creation. Next, by using the word “sinister,” the authors imply that young-earth creationists are afraid of evolution. Rather, we understand the idea of evolution; it is simply that we don’t believe it is true for biblical and logical reasons. And the authors seem to be deluding themselves by writing that evolution is not “chaotic and wasteful,” given that young-earth creationists believe God created a world of life in one week without any death. The fossil record, however, is a record of death and includes evidence of violence and disease, such as cancer. Why would God call that “very good” if death is an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26) introduced by sin, which could not have occurred before man (Romans 5:12–14)?

We understand science as a gift from God to explore the creation, a companion revelation enriching the understanding of God we get from other sources, such as the Bible. Many do not realize that making the Bible into a textbook of modern science is a recent development. What we learn from science cannot threaten our belief in God as the creator. If God created the universe in a [b]ig [b]ang 15 billion years ago, guided its development with elegant mathematical laws so that eventually there would be big-brained mammals exploring things such as beauty, morality and truth, then let us celebrate that idea, not reject it.

Again, we agree that science can help us explore creation. But the authors’ description of it as a “companion revelation” forces a question: is everything reported in a scientific journal automatically as valid as Scripture? What about when the two come into conflict—such as if an archaeologist alleges that the Bible’s history is inaccurate? Again, the church fathers overwhelmingly believed in a recent creation as the Bible taught. And of course we do not make the Bible a “textbook of modern science,” since it is a book of history. And again, the authors fallaciously reify “science.” What Richard Dawkins believes the scientific method shows certainly does threaten one’s belief in God. Finally, there is the word if: “If God created the universe in a [b]ig [b]ang 15 billion years ago . . . .” The authors seem to misunderstand our perspective entirely, again, falsely implying that our position is due to fear or unwillingness to consider what it would mean to celebrate the big bang, etc.

Sadly, the visibility of Giberson and Falk’s piece will surely misinform many who don’t actually know what we and other young-earth creationists believe. Even while lobbying tired old defenses of theistic evolution, the authors did not answer a single of our substantive problems with compromise (which are documented in the articles linked below). Still, we are thankful for the continued attention on the Creation Museum, which continues to be the best chance many have for beginning to understand the creationist’s perspective—and for meeting the Creator.

For more information:

• Couldn’t God Have Used Evolution?
• Why Shouldn’t Christians Accept Millions of Years?
• Did Jesus Say He Created in Six Literal Days?
• Is Natural Selection the Same Thing as Evolution?
• Does the big bang fit with the Bible?
• 10 dangers of theistic evolution
• Get Answers: Creation Compromises, Creation: Why it Matters, Genesis, Science,

Plea for Forgiveness and Reconciliation - Japanese to Chinese

This is from a Japanese brother in Christ, spoken on Sunday 2 August 2009, before a gathering of about 200 believers made up of Asians and missionaries throughout Asia. Some of the countries represented: China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand, Philippines, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Russia, and USA.

Plea for Forgiveness and Reconciliation

I. Story of Fushun （撫順、抚顺）

I was born in 1956. That same year, about 1000 Japanese soldiers returned to Japan from Fushun Prison which was located in the Northeastern part of China. After Japan surrendered, a number of war courts were held in different countries, and many Japanese war criminals were tried and executed. The war courts conducted by America, Britain, Australia, Holland, Taiwan, France, Philippine, all together 971 were executed and 479 were given lifetime imprisonment. In the war court conducted by the People’s Republic of China in 1956, no one was sentenced to death or to lifetime imprisonment. 1017 were found guilty but pardoned and immediately released. Such gracious treatment of the war criminals was unheard of.

Japanese invaded vast areas of China. We committed most atrocious and brutal crimes imaginable to unarmed Chinese civilians, women, children and even to babies. We were worse than animals. We were called Japanese “sons of Devil” and we were.

Many of the Fushun prisoners after their return to Japan, dedicated the rest of their lives for promoting the friendship between China and Japan, for publishing books and giving speeches to confess publicly what they did in China, to appeal to Japanese people never to engage in war and never to repeat the same mistake.

What changed these Japanese prisoners? About 600,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians were captured by the Soviet army at the end of the war. They were sent to the work camps in Siberia. Since the Soviet government only gave them very little food and clothing, many died of malnutrition and illnesses. In Siberia Japanese soldiers were treated as Japanese used to treat their prisoners of war in Asia.

After five years of forced labor in Siberia, about one thousand Japanese were transferred to China. They were handed over to the Chinese authority. Many thought they were going to be killed by Chinese because of what they did to them previously. On the train to China, Japanese received a delicious meal which they had not eaten for years. Some thought this was the last meal before execution.

Chinese prison staff treated the Japanese prisoners with kindness and love for 5 years in Fushun Prison. They fed them nutritious meals three times a day. The prisoners did not have to work. The sick received good medical treatments. For the first year or two, the Japanese soldiers were still arrogant and disrespectful to the Chinese prison staff and nurses. They still acted as if they were better than Chinese people.

The Chinese Communist Party had a policy in Fushun to treat the Japanese soldiers humanely. Japanese prisoners received much better food than the Chinese prison staff. This was when Chinese people did not have enough to eat. Why not? Because Japanese army took all the food and destroyed the land. The prisoners could have second servings if they wished. Many staff thought there was something wrong. Many did not want to work in the camp to take care of Japanese. At first many thought this was the opportunity to take revenge on the Japanese soldiers and to give them what they deserved. One of the prison guards actually found among the prisoners, the soldier who killed his family members. He became so furious. Still he had to follow the party’s command not to abuse them either physically or verbally. He was ready to quit. The director of the prison persuaded him that if he quit then these Japanese would pick up guns and invade China again. He assured him that what they were doing was to help the Japanese change so they would never become aggressors again. So he continued and persevered.

Gradually Japanese started to change their attitude. They knew in their heart that they did not deserve what they were receiving especially after what they have done to the Chinese people. Japanese started to show their appreciation and respect for the kindness of the Chinese. Japanese were trained to think that Japan was the divine nation and that they were a superior race and the rest of the people were inferior, but they started think differently. This experience in Fushun not only changed the Japanese prisoners but also the Chinese staff as they saw that their kindness was changing the Japanese prisoners. Their hatred toward Japanese was softened and they actually felt friendly toward them by the end of the five years. They became friends.

The Chinese officials and workers at Fushun prison practiced Ro 12:20f. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” They fed their enemies and treated them with kindness. By so doing they put burning coals on the heads of Japanese soldiers. At first Japanese did not know what to do but they gradually changed. Chinese people overcame evil with goodness in Fushun. You defeated and destroyed our prejudice, arrogance and malice not by force, brutal treatment, threat, or torture but by love, mercy and kindness. We tried to defeat you and control you with force, violence, threat and sword, but we could not.

The Chinese Communist party and the prison staff proved to the world that Ro 12:20f is true by practicing it on most hateful, prejudiced and hardheaded and hardhearted Japanese soldiers. All truth is God’s truth. Even communism which denies God’s existence, holds much truth, God’s truth in it. Communists, Buddhists, Muslims, and even Japanese sons of Devil are created in the image of God the Creator. We are made of God’s truth and love.

Gandhi, a Hindu practiced and proved to the world that Matt 5:39 is true: “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” He showed us the way of non-violent resistance. India defeated British Empire not by force or by weapon but by the teaching of Jesus. He inspired Martin Luther King Jr. and many others. In America, the African Americans won their civil rights not by violence but by the truth of the Bible. Our God is big and powerful. God’s truth is big and powerful.

II. Story of Stephen Metcalf

A British man, Stephen Metcalf was a son of a missionary to China. During his teenage years he was in China when Japanese army was occupying many cities of China. He was a high school student, studying in a boarding school with other missionary children.

Japanese army wanted their school campus so they moved the school to another location and they were under Japanese control. Metcalf hated Japanese for what they did to them and what they did to Chinese people. In their Bible class they were studying the Sermon on the Mount. Their teacher who was a missionary asked what they thought of Jesus teaching: “love your enemies.” (Matt 5:44) When they heard the word “enemy,” Metcalf and his classmates automatically thought of Japanese soldiers and thought it was an idealistic teaching but not a practical one. He thought to love Japanese was impossible and that God surely did not expect them to do that.

The teacher told the students that he felt the same way as they did at first. But he read the words followed the teaching, “love your enemies”: “and pray for those who persecute you.” The teacher encouraged the students to do that. The teacher said when you hate someone, you are the center of your thought. But when you pray, God is the center. And you cannot hate someone that God loves. Metcalf at first could not even pray for Japanese. But as he started to pray, his prayer changed and he was changed.

You may know Metcalf’s teacher. His name was Eric Liddell. He was a gold medallist for 400 meter run in Paris Olympics of 1924. His story became a famous movie, “The Chariots of Fire.” During the Japanese occupation, Liddell sold his gold medal in the black market and with the money, he fixed some of the sports equipments so that the students can enjoy sports even in the camp. Eric Liddell died of brain tumor in the camp. A couple of weeks before Liddell died he gave his running shoes to Metcalf. He wore those shoes when he carried Liddell’s body to the tomb. He promised to God then that if God allowed him to come out of the camp alive, he would become a missionary to Japan to evangelize Japanese people. He kept the promise and came to Japan after the war and preached for over forty years. Metcalf said, "The best thing (Eric Liddell) gave me was his baton of forgiveness. He taught me to love my enemies, the Japanese, and to pray for them."

Liddell taught Metcalf to pray. As he prayed, his attitude toward Japanese changed. He remembered that Jesus prayed for those who tortured him and humiliated him and who were nailing him to the cross: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Metcalf thought Japanese did not know that they were doing. They did not know that every human being was created by God in his image. Japanese were also created by God and that they were hurting God when they were mistreating others.

III. God suffered with you

Before and during the war Japanese were trained to believe that their emperor was a living God. In the basic training of the Japanese Imperial Army they would beat you, hit you and kick you for no reason but break you until you become a robot to follow the command of your superiors without asking a question. They believed that when they obey the command of their superior, they were doing the Emperor’s will or God’s will. We were deceived by Devil and we became sons of Devil and did devilish things.

When you groaned and screamed with pain God heard you. When you cried God cried with you. He suffered with you with all the injustice, cruelty, and humiliation that we inflicted upon you. God saw every act of injustice and cruelty Japanese soldiers committed and tried to conceal. Only God knows how much you suffered because of us.

Gandhi said this: “When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall.” Japan fell and so did Nazi Germany.

IV. Let us make the Lord’s prayer our daily prayer

I have no right to ask for your forgiveness. I ask you to pray. There is a prayer in the Bible that teaches us to pray. It is the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. It is called the Lord’s Prayer but it is disciples’ prayer.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

When we put God first and in the center of our life then everything else falls in its proper place. If we do not, things fall apart. (Matt 6:33) Jesus taught his disciples to call God “Father.” So this prayer is an invitation to us from the Father for an intimate relationship. This prayer begins with praise to God. We are not here to see how great we can become but to know how great God is and to praise him and love him.

We pray “Your Kingdom come and your will be done.” Why do we pray this? Because we have rejected God’s rule and His will. Our world is corrupted and twisted because of Satan’s deception and of our sins. This prayer knows our pain, suffering and groaning. (Ro 8:22-23) This prayer longs for God’s order, justice, and healing.

This is a prayer of invitation to God to rule our lives as our King. How does God’s Kingdom expand? It expands by conquering us with his love. And we join his conquest as his soldiers. This prayer is a prayer of dedication. We dedicate our lives so that God can rule us. We dedicate ourselves to God who first dedicated himself for us.

Give us today our daily bread.

The first half of the prayer concerns God and his kingdom. That teaches us the purpose of our existence. Our aim is not to please ourselves but to please God and glorify Him. This is a prayer of trust: our declaration of dependence.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

We live because of God’s forgiveness and by his grace. We receive so much mercy that we should be merciful to others. (Eph 4:32) The church cannot exist nor can we witness to the world without this kind of love for one another. John 13:34-35

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

We acknowledge our weakness. We must know our enemy, the Devil. (1Pet 5:6-11) We also must know our ally. (Ro 8:31) If God is for us, who can be against us? We know our weakness but we also know that God can work powerfully through our weakness. (2Cor 12:10)

Prayer is not about letting God know what we want. It is about letting God do what he wants through us. This prayer is God’s daily invitation to live as his children. This is our invitation to God to rule our life and our heart. This is our daily prayer of dedication, our offering ourselves in his hands and for his service. This prayer allows God to mold us so we can become more and more like Jesus.

Let us learn to pray this prayer and live this prayer. God can mold and shape us through this prayer.

As a Japanese I am so ashamed for what we did to your people and I am so sorry.
I have no right or reason to ask for your forgiveness. I can understand if you cannot forgive us. I will not ask you to give us a chance but to give God a chance to do a miracle: His miraculous work of reconciliation and healing.

Father, make us one as your children.
Rule us and use us as your servants.
Give us grace to live and love one another.
We are weak. Protect us from Satan’s deception and our own deception.
Father, heal the wounds of Chinese people and others. These are the wounds that we Japanese inflicted and the wounds go so deep. Reach your healing hands deeper, Lord, and touch and heal them with your love for your glory.
This we pray in the name of our crucified Savior Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

Read the Bible in 31 days!

Someone took the page numbers from the ESV Reference Bible and the time required from the Max McLean ESV audio Bible. You can modify these numbers for your favorite Bible translation.

* NT 18 hours (1,080 minutes)– ESV 279 pages
* OT 57 hours (3,420 minutes) – ESV 968 pages

To read through the entire Bible in a month with 31 days:
* Read 35 minutes or 9 pages of NT per day
* Read 111 minutes or 32 pages of OT per day
* So, by spending only 2 hours and 26 minutes per day, 41 pages, you can read through the entire ESV Bible in one month.

Isn't 2 hours and 26 minutes close to 10% of 24 hours? Wouldn't that be a daily tithe?

*Actual daily tithe would be 2 hours and 24 minutes.

Restoring Worship?

I really like this idea from David Plotz, in Blogging the Bible:

Chapter 7
7:22-23: The grimmest verse so far: "All in whose nostrils was the merest breath of life, all that was on dry land, died. All existence on earth was blotted out—man, cattle, creeping things, birds of the sky; they were blotted from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark."

What a chilling account of the flood, and of the loneliness of Noah. Even the good man, even the righteous man, is alone in the world, and always subject to God's awesome power. This is pretty raw. It also seems to me to offer at least a clue about why God destroyed the earth. It seems clear that the Pre-Deluge evils were not crimes of men against other men, but crimes of men against God. As men mastered agriculture and metalwork and built cities, which earlier verses suggest they did, they felt they didn't need God. They came to see their laws, achievements, and prosperity as their own, accomplished independently of God. So, perhaps the point of the flood was not to restore ordinary moral behavior—day-to-day decency, law, etc.—but to restore faith, or at least fear. We thought we didn't need God, and that was what angered Him. The Flood—this verse in particular—reminds us (or at least the one righteous man who is permitted to live) that we are never independent of God, but always floating alone, vulnerable, at His mercy.

_*_*_*_*_*_

What do you think?

Super Sweet Time Lapse

http://vimeo.com/3156959

Thinking in Chinese

I used to wonder what it would be like to think in Chinese. Last night I put in a couple of earplugs so I could rest and started thinking in Chinese. It didn't require much effort, just happened. When I got to something that I couldn't say in Chinese, I would switch back to English, then I would have to "flip" that same simple switch to go back to Chinese. It was great!

I really feel like my pump has been primed. Now to really get this thing to full throttle. I need to put more Chinese in so I can get more Chinese out!

This simple, wonderful revelation came because I was having hypersensitive hearing from a bad seating location at lunch. Strange how these things work.

Praising God in all situations, hope you are too!

Take it by force!

What do you think about the following verses?

1. "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force." - Matthew 11:12

What kind of violence is this?

2. "The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it." - Luke 16:16

Who is forcing their way into the kingdom of God?

3. "For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." - Matthew 13:12

What is Jesus talking about? What is that these folks have that he is giving more of and taking more away from?

4. "Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." - John 15:2

Who likes getting their life pruned? Who doesn't like getting a greater harvest?

5. "But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" James 4:6

What is God's definition of "proud" - how about "humble" - and tell me again how do I get more grace?

I would like to sum all of this up with another couple of questions... consider these and tell me what you think:
1. What do we call the people that are the first to jump into a new idea that costs them everything?
2. Why would people risk everything with the promise of being treated poorly?
3. What do you have that you want more of? Less of?
4. What are you holding on to? What do you not want to sacrifice?
5. What area of your life needs more of God and less of self?

The business world calls people willing to try a new product, risking financial and personal safety, early adopters. What are spiritual early adopters? These people are from every walk of life, they are poor, hurting, and lonely; rich, happy, and have loads of friends... but they all recognize a great opportunity. And with great opportunity comes great risk!

God is asking us to trust him, to step out in faith and share in his life. Jesus had a great life, sure he died a horrible death, but look at the victorious new life!

Are you forcing your way into an increasingly deeper relationship with God?

iGoogle

I have begun using iGoogle as my homepage... they really have improved it! I am writing this post from iGoogle and doing so much more. Now I have one page I look at instead of 10!

Stem Cell Drama

President Barack Obama on Monday signed an executive order to lift restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. "In recent years, when it comes to stem-cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," Obama said. "In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent." Both the president and most media outlets rarely make a clear distinction between embryonic stem-cell research and research using other types of stem cells, but simply use the generic term "stem cells" when referring to embryonic stem cells.

But the president did more on Monday than to just force taxpayers to fund embryonic stem-cell research, which requires the destruction of human life. He also rescinded an executive order President Bush put into place that funded adult stem-cell research and new research seeking alternative technologies, such as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are now the talk of the scientific world. (See PWB, 3/6/09.) Even Dr. James Thomson, who first grew human embryonic stem cells in 1998, has pulled his resources from embryos and invested in iPS cells, because, apart from satisfying the moral dilemma, these cells are easier and cheaper to reproduce.

"I can think of only two reasons for this action, for which I saw no advocacy either in the election or during the first weeks of the administration," said bioethics attorney and watchdog Wesley J. Smith. "First, vindictiveness against all things 'Bush' or policies considered by the Left to be 'pro-life' and, second, a desire to get the public to see unborn human life as a mere corn crop ripe for the harvest."

Many believe that Bush could have been ahead of his time in promoting both adult stem-cell research and alternative research, such as regression, also known as direct reprogramming. In this process, differentiated cells from adults are reverted into stem cells, with no destruction of human life. As recently as last week, researchers announced that they had successfully turned ethically created cells into the neurons that break down in Parkinson's disease. The week before, scientists produced evidence that they had treated Parkinson's in a patient with his own adult stem cells. Almost daily, researchers are celebrating new breakthroughs without compromising a single human life. Over 70 diseases and conditions have already been treated through adult stem cells, helping patients overcome everything from juvenile diabetes to heart disease. "While the Obama administration and its supporters claim to be on the cutting edge of science, the new President is pursuing old technology," said Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. Smith says the Obama decision to also reverse the Bush order funding adult and alternative stem-cell research shows that Obama is really the anti-science president, not his predecessor.

A further misconception is that embryonic stem-cell research was made illegal and terminated. However, only federal funding of such research was banned by the Bush administration. Privately funded and commercial embryonic stem-cell research has continued for many years, but has yet to produce a single cure or benefit to a patient. In fact, in recent weeks, embryonic stem cells have been condemned for causing tumors in one patient in Israel. "Embryonic stem-cell research is the research of the past. Millions of dollars have been spent on embryonic stem-cell research and it has failed," said Americans United for Life president Charmaine Yoest. "To pour more money into it is simply a waste."

House Minority Leader John Boehner issued a written statement immediately after the signing that said, "Non-embryonic stem-cell research is not only showing great promise in the laboratory, but its applications are already being used to treat scores of diseases and medical conditions. Indeed, science and respect for human life can coexist. Politicians in Washington would be well-served to recognize this fact before they ask taxpayers to subsidize the destruction of innocent human life simply to advance a particular agenda." [LifeNews.com, Washington Update, OneNewsNow.com, FoxNews.com]

From The Pastor's Weekly Briefing

Sick day...

Today I am not feeling well. Woke with a fever of 102.7... went directly to the local clinic had a chest x-ray, blood work, then received some IVs.

I'll be trying to catch up on this later on today or tomorrow. For now it is bed time.

Describing Jaime

I want you all to know praising your wife can reap great rewards! I won a book for describing Jaime... the following is copied from the City Weekend website:

WIN a copy of CW Parents & Kids Columnist Tania McCartney's newest book!

You can read the review here!

Answer the following question in the comment box below. The best answer will be chosen by Tania herself and win a copy of her book! Preference is given to those that are active in the City Weekend online community.

Tania says: "Tai Tai (noun. f.) wife (the word is also used by expats as a tongue-in-cheek description for a woman who lunches, shops, has her nails done and probably fills her house with orchids)"

Here's the question: Give us your own definition of a Tai Tai!

Contest ends Jan 24.

Contributed by cityweekend

4 weeks, 1 day ago

• id_comment: Add your two cents and join (in) the discussion

Comments Add a public comment

ryanx

TAI TAI =

My Girl new name after marry, The one who understanding me well... Love LV & Cartier, The only one that I love and respect in my life.

4 weeks, 1 day ago

dnmoggy

Ohhhhh......Tai Tai.......I thought you said Mai Tai.....Hic......

4 weeks ago

acaralla

Tai Tai...the little-known substitute Fuwa, ready to step in at any moment should anything incapacitate the first five. Alas, no shot at glory came his way...

3 weeks, 5 days ago

smileybella

HIS?

3 weeks, 5 days ago

pjsheeps

HAHA.... someone about your response Smileybella is just hilarious!!!!

3 weeks, 5 days ago

cj750

someone who has lots of leisure time, lots of money to spend and lots of gossip to exchange.

3 weeks, 3 days ago

eugenebj

Tai-Tais ...

• are Tai-Tais ... the rest are just housewives, mothers, "yellow-faced ladies" ...

• are into competitive shopping to see who have the newest, biggest, most exclusive, most expensive bags, shoes, ...

• are ardent fans of Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Dior, ...

• love fur, lace and leather?!

• form cliques (membership to groups by introduction or connection only)

• frequent nail, hair, massage and beauty parlours ... to while away time, (or loneliness?)

• have wealthy hubbies or hubbies with certain social status (a must)

• have well-groomed children (or at least they try)

• are often members of Parent Associations in their children's schools

• have tea and brunches with other tai-tais

• (those who work-out) have young, cute male personal trainers ... and are all dressed-to-kill in the gym!

• (those who don't work-out) have young, cute god-sons that they keep for .... (use your imagination)

• is a term we use, much like 'Yuppies', 'Hippies', 'Metrosexuals', etc., to describe this unique and interesting social group of homo-sapiens!

3 weeks ago

caseysmyth

A lady of leisure. A woman with too much time on her hands! While her husband is out working, she wiles away the hours attempting to keep busy with shopping, short courses and the gym! Generally succeeding!

2 weeks, 4 days ago

inspiresme

A wonderful woman with a servant heart. Giving graciously to others beyond their ability to accept, yet in a way that is humble and true which causes them to be gracious in return. A woman deserving of rubies and diamonds, yet content with love and affection.

2 weeks, 4 days ago

yanyue3300

Congratulate to inspiresme win the Beijing Taitai Book, and thanks for all your attending.

2 days, 4 hours ago

inspiresme

Thank you!

2 days, 4 hours ago

Happy Niu Year!

Happy Spring Festival! This is the Year of the Ox.

We just got back from our trip to Harbin. This Northeastern city is famous for an Ice Festival that starts in late December and runs until mid-February. We spent three full days there and stayed at our friends' apartment, which was located about one hour from the downtown. Thank you J & J! We had four students help us while we were there, acting as our tour guides were Enya, Daniel, Tony & Shirley. We really enjoyed our time together, they wonderful, cooking dinner for us every night. On our last night there they made hot pot for Andrew's birthday and picked up his cake for us. We attached a photo of them below from the night of Andrew's birthday. Please pray for them. Two of them are Christians, and two of them are not. They are staying in Harbin for the Spring Festival/Chinese New Year. Tony is a college graduate and is looking for a job, Enya and Shirley are both Juniors in the local school, and Daniel attends a school about 2 hours from Beijing. We were very blessed to have them with us.

Sunday our worship was in the evening due to folks heading back to work this weekend. We had a great time on Saturday night celebrating Gray's 50th birthday at Gary & Danita Jackson's home. Danita cooked a great Mexican feast, we played games together, and ate cake. There were about 30 people that attended.

Ski Trip: Before we left for Harbin we went skiing with Andrey, a brother from church. We had a great time with Andrey. Andrew could not find a ski boot to fit him, so he decided to snowboard instead, which he has done once before. There was one ski lift and one long trail. The other much shorter trails for beginners were on the same hill, which used skit tows.

Orphanage and plans: Almost every week Jaime goes to the local orphanage and spends time with the children. She enjoys exchanging English lessons for Chinese lessons with the children. This week will be her last visit for awhile, because she is heading back to the States to visit family for one month. Please pray for her to have a safe and enjoyable journey. Also please pray for her cousin, Kathleen, who was just diagnosed with Acute Leukemia. Kathleen is getting treatment now and has to remain in the hospital for 30 days. Please remember to pray for Andrew as he remains in China for his continued work and studies. Keep us both in your prayers as we will be apart for a month.

Trip to Sichuan: Gary & Danita and two members of the Wangjing church are in Sichuan this week visiting the 9 families that our church is sponsoring. Please pray for their safety and time with them.

Marcus & Julia Rodriguez: Please continue to pray for Marcus & Julia as they have gone to Julia's hometown for Spring Festival and will be enjoying hiking in Yunnan province too.

Facebook photos:
Skiing in Beijing
Harbin Ice Festival
Harbin's Songhua River & St. Sofia Church
Harbin's Tiger Park

How to make your church guest-friendly by Rick Warren

I like his suggestions... some of them won't work in certain churches, but can be adapted and adopted fairly easily. May the Lord bless you this year as your serve Him! - Andrew

________________________________________

A guest’s first 12 minutes dramatically influence whether they’re coming back or not. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Rick Warren

There are a lot of reasons a church might grow. Sometimes people come because of the preaching. Sometimes people come because of the music. Some people like the great programs for kids and youth.

But I’m convinced there’s an often overlooked factor in church growth: Growing churches are friendly to guests. All churches think they’re friendly, but when you take a good look at them, you often discover they’re friendly to people who have been attending for 15 years or more – not to new people.

A guest’s first 12 minutes dramatically influence whether they’re coming back or not. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. When non-Christians come to your church for the first time, their number one emotion is fear. What will people think? What are they going to do? Am I going to have to sign something, sing something, sacrifice something, or say something? They don’t know what’s going on, and they’re scared to death.

Your first goal with guests (and by the way, I never call them visitors) is to get them to relax. Then you can communicate with them. When people are afraid, their barriers are up and it’s like, “I dare you to teach me something!” No matter how good your sermon is, they won’t listen to the Good News about Jesus until they get past those fears. You need to put guests at ease.

How do you do that? Here are some ideas:

• Reserve your best parking spots for guests. It just shows you’re thinking about them. If you had guests for dinner at your house, you’d probably do whatever it took to make them feel more comfortable. You’d give them your best silverware and your best dishes. You might ask them about food preferences before you plan the meal. You should show the same type of courtesies to guests at your church.
  
  
• Station greeters outside your building. You need people strategically placed around your campus to greet guests. At Saddleback, we used to play a game. I would dare people to get into the building without having their hand shaken at least three times. We place greeters way out in the parking lot. Why? We’ve found that people hate to be greeted publicly during the service, but they love to be greeted personally.
  
  
• Set up an information table. Put all sorts of information on the table that might help people find their way around. Put maps out with classrooms and restrooms easily marked. Put out brochures about the church that give people information they can take home and read at their convenience. Most importantly, have hosts stationed there to help people find their way around. Make sure your hosts know where the restrooms are and where the children should go!
  
  
• Have taped music playing when people enter. In America almost every public building has music playing. Even in the elevator, music is playing. You go into the restroom and music is playing. You go into a restaurant and music is playing. Why? Because people expect to hear music. If you walked into a church right now and everyone was dead silent when you walked in, you’d probably be uncomfortable. On the other hand, if you heard fairly loud praise music playing, you’d feel much more comfortable.
  
  Here’s something interesting I’ve found: If you play soft music, people talk softly. But if you play loud music, people talk louder. When non-Christians come into your church, they want it to be noisy. They want to hear what’s going on.
  
  
• Allow guests to remain anonymous in the service. Please don’t make guests stand up. The three greatest fears people have are going to a party with strangers, having to speak before a crowd, and being asked personal questions in public. So when we ask our guests to tell us their name and where they are from in front of everyone, we subject them to all three of their greatest fears at one time. Bad idea.
  
  How do you identify guests if you don’t have them stand up? Have them fill out a welcome card. Then someone from the church can connect with them later.
  
  
• Offer a warm, casual public welcome that relaxes people. If you want to make guests feel welcome, you’ve got to be at ease yourself. That’s what most people expect – just watch the late-night TV shows. Like it or not, how the pastor and the worship leader interact with each other sets the tone for good or for bad in a service.

  In early years at Saddleback we used to say, “If this is your first time at Saddleback, we’re glad you’re here. We want you take a deep breath, sit back, relax, and enjoy the service.” You know where I got that? I heard someone say it on an airline once! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight. All we’re trying to do is help them relax and then make them feel comfortable.

• Begin and end each service by having people greet each other. Five times in the New Testament Christians are told to greet one another and share affection. I’ll say during the service, “Turn around and give somebody a hug. Turn around and give somebody a handshake.” I’ve been told by some that’s the only physical touch they get all week. And human beings need touch. It’s a great way to help lower the barriers of your guests.
  
  
• Offer a refreshment table at each service. Today in our society, it’s not appropriate to just stand in a crowd doing nothing. You have to have something in your hand. That’s why they have cocktail parties. People like to have something in their hand when they’re hanging out and mingling. Out on the patio, I’ll see a 300-pound guy who thinks he’s hiding behind a Styrofoam cup! He’s very comfortable as long as he has something in his hand if somebody looks at him and he’s not talking.

You have to break down the fear barriers before people will ever open up to your message and consider coming back to your church. Try these guest-friendly tips in coming weeks, and help your church grow in 2009.

Latest & Greatest

Praise
1. Our new minister Jacky (English name of course). He has been acting as the minister for quite some time now, so it wasn't difficult for the church here to begin paying him for his service. This is a great step for the congregation! Their first local minister. Jacky is a great servant. He has a wife and child. Please keep them all in your prayers.
2. Praise God! We had several guests on Sunday! Our church family is growing in many ways, one of which is evangelism.
3. Thanking God for fun times! Jaime arranged an ice skating trip on Sunday. Children from the orphanage, some folks from Haidian, and our group were all represented quite well. (The rink didn't have Andrew's size skates, so he went to the coffee shop to keep warm.)

Plans
1. Our team will all be doing a bit of traveling January and February. Some to the US, others to former ministry locations, and still others for a bit of vacationing.
2. The university area group is planning to start a new church this year and they have already targeted an area in the southern part of the city. Praise God!
3. Our church is reading through the Bible in two years. What we read through the week will be used for preaching on Sunday.

Ongoing Efforts
1. The Sichuan families have been receiving regular prayers, phone calls, visits, and 1000RMB/monthly from a fund that churches in the States and a few throughout China have contributed to. We ask you to faithfully lift up these children and their families to our Father:

1. Tong Zhong Cheng (boy--14)--lost one leg
2. Ma Cong (boy--11)--lost one leg; lost his father and older sister
3. Luo Ying (girl--9) lost one arm and one leg
4. Shang Ting (girl--10) lost one eye, index finger on one hand, and both legs; buried more than 120 hours.
5. Wen Jing (girl--12) lost right hand; 2 broken legs
6. Wang Xiao Wei (boy--12) lost one leg
7. Jiang Ping Ping (girl--10) one leg badly broken and mangled
8. Zhao Chen (boy--11) broken shoulder
9. Ren Si Yu (girl--6) severe leg injury; nerve damage on one side of body; lost her father

The major injuries have been listed above, yet nearly all the children had severe cuts and wounds all over the body. Many of them have deep scars in their scalps from head injuries. All of them, except for Si Yu, were inside school buildings that collapsed during the earthquake. Si Yu ran outside with her class (first grade being on first floor) but they were all covered up by the landslide when a huge piece of the nearby mountain can down. She was the last one out the door with her teacher so her teacher put her arms around her to protect her. The teacher and all the other children perished, only Si Yu survived.

2. Wednesday Night Seekers Study
We have had a new wave of people coming to our Wednesday night studies. It might be a blessing, but we are not sure how just yet because many of them are already believers and their English is quite good. We have asked a few to allow the non-believers to be involved more and reminded them of the purpose of the study - to reach the non-believers.

3. Building Relationships
On different occasions, we had folks over for Mexican and a pizza & game night. While we are busy with language studies, Bible studies, and various other appointments, we are wanting to reach out more. We really want to deepen our connections with the local brothers and sisters. Of course the difficulty is that we are not even close to being conversant in Chinese.

My Facebook account (or Jaime's) has recent pictures of travels and fun times.

The Seven Foundations of Jesus’ Leadership by Rick Warren

There are no perfect leaders. I’m not a perfect leader. Neither are you. But Jesus is. There’s no better teacher on leadership than Jesus. What made him such as effective leader? Lots of reasons. In this article I’ll give you seven of them.

1. Identification: I must know who I am. To be a leader you’ve got to know who you are. All great leaders know their strengths and their weaknesses. We’re a bundle of both. Leadership is not ignoring one in favor of the other. It’s being honest about them. Good leaders don’t try to be something they are not. They are self-aware.

Jesus had no doubt about his identity. He said:
• I am the light of the world.
• I am the Son of God.
• I am the way.
• I am the truth.
• I am the life.
• I am the bread of life.

Jesus defines himself 18 times by saying, “I am…” He didn’t let other people define him. He defined himself. If you’re going to be a leader, you must know who you are.

2. Clarification: Know what you want to accomplish. You must clarify what God has called you to do with your life. The direction of your life is your choice. If you don’t like the direction your life is headed right now, change it. Nobody’s holding a gun to your head. Nobody’s making you a victim. Nobody’s forcing you to serve in the manner you’re serving.

Jesus knew exactly what God had called him to do. He was a straightforward leader who established clear-cut goals. In John 8 Jesus says, “I know where I came from and I know where I’m going.” Jesus had a clear purpose. He knew not only who he was, but what was he trying to do with his life. He truly was a purpose-driven leader.

God has a purpose for your life and ministry. If you don’t fulfill it, you have wasted your life. You were put on earth to live for the purpose God created you for. A leader knows that purpose and pursues it with passion.

3. Motivation: Know who you’re trying to please. You need to settle the issue of motivation. You can’t please everybody. Just about the time you get one person happy, you’ll tick someone else off.

Jesus lived for an audience of One. His whole purpose was to please his heavenly Father. Jesus says this in John 5, “I only try to please the One who sent Me.” Jesus wasn’t trying to win a popularity contest; he just wanted to please God.

That’s a lesson we have to learn as leaders. You’ve got to learn not to care about the opinions of others. You’ve got to focus on God’s opinion of what you’re doing. Don’t pay attention to those who cheer you or jeer you. Either one will sidetrack you.

4. Collaboration: Work with a small group. You never lead by yourself. You always do it in context of a team. All great leaders are great team builders. In fact, if you don’t have a team, you’re not a leader. You’re a loner. The test of leadership is whether anyone is following you.

Jesus modeled this kind of ministry. He never did ministry alone. Mark 3:14 says, “He appointed twelve – designating them apostles – that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.” Jesus enlisted other people to serve the cause with him.

If God gives you a vision for your ministry, he’s going to bring other people with the same idea together with you. If nobody agrees on your idea, guess what? It’s not from God.

5. Concentration: Focus on what’s important. Leaders must focus on what’s important. Life is filled with things that will distract you from what’s important. Sometimes we can be distracted by good things as well. If Satan can’t mess up your life by getting you to do wrong things, he’ll mess up your life by giving you too many good things to do.

Jesus was a master of concentration. He focused his life like a laser. He refused to be distracted. Luke 9:51 says, “As the time drew near for his return to heaven, he moved steadily onward toward Jerusalem with an iron will.” He headed toward Jerusalem to die on the cross for us. He did it with an iron will. He would not let anything distract him from what was important.

Your ministry has incredible potential. But that ministry potential won’t be realized until you decide what’s really important. Settle on what’s most important, and God will use your life like you could never imagine.

6. Meditation: Listen to God. Make listening to God a habit of your life. Jesus did. Prayer was a regular part of his life. The Bible tells us in Mark 1:35, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

If Jesus needed to get alone and listen to God, don’t you think that you need to? You need quiet times to reflect, renew, and recharge. You need time to just get alone, be quiet, and listen to God.

7. Relaxation: Take time to recharge. Leadership is draining. It’s hard work. We all need time to just relax. Jesus encouraged his very busy disciples to take some time for relaxation. Mark 6:31 says, “Crowds of people were coming and going so that they did not even have time to eat. He [Jesus] said to them [the disciples], ‘Come away by yourselves, and we’ll go to a lonely place to get some rest.’”

Jesus realized the disciples had been busy serving, and they were tired. They needed a break. So he told them to get away and rest. Rest is so important that God put it in the Ten Commandments. The fourth commandment says this: every seventh day you take a day off. Pastor, this applies to you as well. You need a day away from the church.

Years ago I learned a key to lasting in leadership: divert daily, withdraw weekly, and abandon annually.

Divert daily means doing something fun every day. Get a hobby. Do something that relaxes you.

Withdraw weekly means you take a day off every week for relaxation and restoration.

Abandon annually means you get away and forget everything for some time each year.

Your leadership is a key ingredient to helping your church become what God has called it to be. In fact, the Bible says this in Proverbs 11:14, “Without wise leadership a nation is in trouble.” That’s true of every single area of life. Without wise leadership, your church is in trouble. Learn about leadership from Jesus. We have no better guide.

Blogging...

I have been keeping my new blog www.daily-discipline.blogspot.com pretty faithfully for the past 35 or so days. In that time, I have come to realize maintaining to blogs is a little difficult and time consuming. I have not decided what I'll do about it, but maybe this one will become a place to post a few pictures, share those inspirational links that I find, and ... but wait, I do all that and more on Facebook!

For all those reasons, I am just not sure what will become of this blog... any suggestions?

How to Be Thankful in Tough Times by Rick Warren

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6 (NLT)

*** *** *** ***

1. Don’t worry about anything. Worrying doesn’t change anything. It’s stewing without doing. There’s no such thing as born worriers; worry is a learned response. You learned it from your parents. You learned it from your peers. You learned it from experience. That’s good news. The fact that worry is learned means it can also be unlearned. Jesus says, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matthew 6:34 NLT).

2. Pray about everything. Use the time you’ve spent worrying for praying. If you prayed as much as you worried, you’d have a whole lot less to worry about. Some people think God only cares about religious things, such as how many people I invite to church or my tithing. Is God interested in car payments? Yes. He’s interested in every detail of your life. That means you can take any problem you face to God.

3. Thank God in all things. Whenever you pray, you should always pray with thanksgiving. The healthiest human emotion is not love, but gratitude. It actually increases your immunities; it makes you more resistant to stress and less susceptible to illness. People who are grateful are happy. But people who are ungrateful are miserable because nothing makes them happy. They’re never satisfied; it’s never good enough. So if you cultivate the attitude of gratitude, of being thankful in everything, it reduces stress in your life.

4. Think about the right things. If you want to reduce the level of stress in your life, you must change the way you think. The way you think determines how you feel, and the way you feel determines how you act. So if you want to change your life, you need to change what you’re thinking about.

This involves a deliberate, conscious choice where you change the channels. You choose to think about the right things: focus on the positive and on God’s Word. Why? Because the root cause of stress is the way you choose to think.

When we no longer worry, when we pray about everything, when we give thanks, when we focus on the right things, the apostle Paul tells us the result is, “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7 NLT).

What a guarantee! He is guaranteeing peace of mind.

© 2009 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved.

The Quarter of Remembrance

The Quarter of Remembrance by Mike Cope (reprinted)

I actually got to meet Dr. Channing Barrett, though I don’t remember the meeting because I was too young. But that doesn’t change my picture of him as a young man walking a marathon of miles every weekend. In my mind, I see him returning home to Blissfield, Michigan around the turn of the century.

Channing Barrett was one of eight boys and was the first ever in the Barrett family to go to college. From his medical school, he walked twenty-five miles home each weekend, always returning a couple days later with clean clothes, a food packet, and a dollar.

Dr. Barrett became one of the first ob-gyns in Chicago, practicing at Cook County Hospital. He was known widely both for his innovative surgical techniques and for his ambidextrous skills that allowed him to change hands during long procedures.

There was no patient whom he wouldn’t accept. He delivered many “tenement babies” for fifty cents and many babies for the wives of Mafia dons for a good bit more!

With a growing, respected medical practice, a wonderful wife, and three children, this young physician seemed to be living the idyllic life. He enjoyed riding horses and lifting weights, and was an early member of the Polar Bear Society–that “unique” group that takes to the chilly waters of Lake Michigan in January each year to prove–well, who knows what they’re trying to prove?

And then World War I interrupted this Norman Rockwell life. Dr. Barrett left Chicago to run a field hospital in France, followed shortly by his 17-year-old son, who fought in the trenches.

As long as he could, Barrett sent money back to his wife and daughters. But by the last year of the war, his funds were nearly exhausted. He had no more to mail home. Mrs. Barrett sold most of what they owned, trying desperately to keep her daughters fed and clothed without having to lose their house.

By the time Christmas rolled around in 1918, there were no presents to place under the tree. They were lucky to have a place to live.

But Mrs. Barrett had managed, despite all the financial scrimping, to save two quarters. So on Christmas morning, when the girls emptied their stockings, under the paper dolls their mother had cut out for them and under a couple pieces of candy, they each found a coin.

Previous Christmas mornings had been more lavish, filled with frilly dresses and expensive toys. And there would be more such mornings in the future. But this was the Christmas the family would always remember.

In the future, even during the years of plenty, when the girls emptied their stockings, they always found–under the apples, oranges, nuts, and candy–a quarter.

It was a reminder–a reminder that some years are good while others aren’t too good. Some years deliver new babies, promotions, raises, and great promises. Other years offer sickness, failure, death, and deep disappointment.

The quarter reminded them about both possibilities. It warned them not to write off all the pain of the past as if it didn’t exist. It taught them that the sorrows and wounds of their lives had shaped their characters as much as their joys and accomplishments.

Anyone who takes seriously the Christmas stories of scripture knows that the first Christmas had more than angels, shepherds, wise men, and a mother nursing her baby. There was also the anguish of childbirth. There were the pungent, impolite odors of an animal pen. There was an old man who held the baby and told his mother, “A sword will pierce your own soul too.” There were the voices of many mothers screaming for their baby boys being slaughtered by a demented ruler named Herod. There was a breathless escape to Egypt.

The entrance of God’s Son into the world meant peace–but it didn’t assure that people would get along. It meant great joy–but it didn’t mean we’d always be happy. And it meant unconditional love–though it never implied that everyone would act lovingly.

And so one family, year after year, continued dropping a quarter of remembrance into the bottom of each child’s stocking.

At least one of Channing Barrett’s children picked up that tradition. Every year through the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s, her five children, Dr. Barrett’s grandchildren, pulled their stockings off the chimney on Christmas morning to find quarters buried under fruit, nuts, and candy.

And at least one of those five passed it on to her four children. And at least one of those four is passing it on to his children.

The quarter has mysteriously tied this family together–binding even generations who never met. Together they have remembered that bad year in 1918 and other bad years since.
- One year brought the safe birth of a new nephew; another brought the self-inflicted death of a relative who couldn’t keep fighting the demons of his life;
- One year brought the thrilling news from the gynecologist that a baby was on the way; another brought the news from the pediatrician that the baby wasn’t developing right;
- Some years brought joy; others brought deep, deep pain.

The quarter is a remembrance that the meaning of Christmas is deeper than our triumphs and sorrows. It is a joy that can’t fully be expressed, a peace that passes understanding.

For years my children have followed this tradition started by their Great, Great Grandmother Barrett. Together, we’ve experienced the love of God, woven through the fabric of good days and dark days.

Eleven Christmases ago [fourteen Christmases now] the quarter represented a burden that was crushing our hearts. Not long before Christmas of 1994 our ten-year-old daughter, Megan, took her last breath in the pediatric ICU at Hendrick. Her death was surely the darkest moment in our lives. We felt very connected to Matthew’s Christmas story, the one that tells of “Rachel weeping for her children” (Matthew 2:17).

And then five Christmases later, our family returned to that grief, for in June of 1999 my brother’s son, Jantsen BARRETT Cope, died suddenly and unexpectedly after lifting weights with his high school football team. We barely survived as we gathered in my parents’ living room that Christmas without my nephew’s big, joyful laughs. Fifteen is too young to die. Our quarters were quarters of grief.

But by God’s grace, we have survived. We’re still together, we still love, we still hope, we still believe in that one who was born in Bethlehem.

This Christmas there is still that gaping hole of absence. And yet our quarters will also represent joy. For when people gave money as a memorial to Jantsen, my brother and sister-in-law prayed about a place to let that money be used in the name of Christ. Through a ministry of their church, they traveled to Vietnam to visit an orphanage. They only went intending to give money. But there in a foreign country, across an ocean, on soil where American and Vietnamese soldiers had died, my brother looked into the eyes of a little guy whose name was Vihn, but is now Van – Van Cope. A year later in the same place they looked into the eyes of a sweet Vietnamese girl who is now Tatum Cope.

As Randall Frame has written, “Christmas does not deny sorrow its place in the world. But the message of Christmas is that joy is bigger than despair, that peace will outlast turmoil, that love has crushed all the evil, hatred, and pain the world at its worst can muster.”

That’s why this Christmas Eve, late in the evening, my wife and I will slip a quarter into the bottom of the stockings of our boys and our daughter-in-law.

The quarter will always remind them of a story that is truer than life: that God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son. There in that simple manger in Bethlehem, “the hopes and fears of all the years” found their fulfillment. God had broken into a world of great darkness with the light of his Son.

And yet while the Kingdom of God came in Jesus Christ, we haven’t yet experienced it fully. That’s why the church has continued to pray for 2000 years, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In the meantime, in the words of scripture, we groan, we long, we wait, we hope.

We live in the belief that our simple acts of kindness and giving are not without meaning because Christ has come. And we live in hope that one day the Lord Jesus will come again and all tears will be wiped from our eyes.

That’s the story of Christmas. I know it’s true. I’d bet you a quarter!

Happy New Year! 2009 is Here!

This is from our newsletter... if you would like to receive our newsletter, send me an email.

Welcome to 2009! We can only believe that this year will be more blessed than last year.

In 2009 we saw God greatly at work in our life. We have been blessed with:
1. a deeper love and appreciation for God and one another
2. a sponsoring congregation that is generous, loving, Christ-centered, and very globally focused
3. a home in Beijing complete with a great ministry team, wonderful church family, and a bunch of enjoyable Chinese teachers at our school
4. more personal discipline in reading, praying, and studying God's Word
5. increasing understanding of our families' relationship to us and one another.

We celebrated Christmas in Shiyan with our old church family, friends, and students. Andrew was blessed to be able to preach on Sunday morning sharing a message about discipleship, "Who is your Rabbi?" This message primarily focused on following Jesus with full dedication, using every moment as both a learning opportunity and a witnessing opportunity.

On the way there and on our return trip, we were able to share the Word of God with many people. We gave out 17 Bibles marked with Genesis, Proverbs, and Matthew 5-7 to our taxi drivers, and families & individuals on the train. For more info read the blogs from 12-25-2008 to 12-30-2008 at http://daily-discipline.blogspot.com/.

Before leaving for Shiyan, we copied our friends cookie ministry (click for Facebook photos) idea... and are praying for a great harvest not of cookies, but of new found followers of our Father. To read more about this check out my blog (click here).

Prayers & Plans for 2009 (http://www.stephencovey.com/community/goal_manager/ is going to help with many of our goals!):
1. Grow closer to God and love our neighbors more
2. Tell more neighbors about God's love (and find more ways to do it)
3. Build an even closer relationship with family
4. Speak Mandarin more fluently
5. Increase in healthy living practices

A great article about the changing culture of China:
With Strikes, China's New Middle Class Vents Anger